The Sunday Junkie: Oct. 23 edition

With an upcoming onslaught of events from the UFC, Strikeforce and Bellator Fighting Championships on the horizon, this past week was relatively quiet on the news front, and our submissions to this week’s edition of “The Sunday Junkie” looked at a number of items from the past several weeks.

But this week’s winner of our weekly reader-feedback feature, Northern Ireland’s Michael Audley, was inspired by Saturday night’s Bellator 55 event and says that fight promotion has an immediate need for change.

For his winning entry, Michael wins a free one-year subscription to “Fighters Only” magazine, the world’s leading MMA and lifestyle magazine. He’ll also be invited onto MMAjunkie.com Radio to discuss his topic with the show’s hosts.

Want to submit to next week’s edition of The Sunday Junkie? Scroll to the bottom of the page for instructions.

Also, as a reminder, please be sure to include your hometown and stick within the 150-word limit. Many quality submissions this week didn’t meet those minimum guidelines and couldn’t be considered for publication.

(Pictured: Hector Lombard)

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BELLATOR NEEDS TO ELIMINATE NON-TITLE FIGHTS

This past Saturday, Bellator held yet another event, yet again putting a champion versus a contender in a non-title fight. Up until now, Bellator has been fortunate with all of the non-title fights being won by the champion. Not anymore. On Saturday, the light heavyweight champion lost to journeyman, Travis Wiuff. While it is difficult to find an avenue to keep champions busy while tournaments are taking place, non-title fights cannot be the option. It will be interesting to see what Bellator does now. Will they attempt to sweep the result under the rug, or will they place Wiuff in an upcoming tournament, or could they even take the belt away from M’Pumbu and render the title vacant for an upcoming tournament? It is only at times of adversity that we see the true character in people, whether it be fighters or promoters.

Michael Audley
Bangor, Northern Ireland

HERB DEAN THE MOST IMPORTANT MISSING COMPONENT OF UFC ON FOX 1

When Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos meet next month, millions of eyes will view our sport for the first time. It should be a momentous and proud occasion for MMA fans after years of being frowned upon. This is the reason Herb Dean must officiate. We cannot afford, considering how far our sport has come, for a referee error to cause embarrassment. If the bout gets stopped too early (or too late) or is subject to some other major judging mishap, we could lose a huge amount of potential new fans before we ever get started. I don’t doubt the two fighters will be ambassadors and Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg will be more than welcoming to the new casual fans, but pray the official gets it right. Oh, and as for the judges? I’d be worried if I thought for a second there was any chance they might be called upon!

Chris Steel
Leeds, U.K.

DOES UFC ON FOX NEED A BACKUP MAIN EVENT?

With so many great fights that have recently been canceled due to injury, which is very understandable at this level of competition, is anyone else wondering what UFC on FOX’s back-up plan is? Although I love the Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson match up as a co-main event, how could that fight possibly live up to the already planned main event and the marketing behind it? With so much riding on the FOX debut and so many top-level fighters having matchups, is it crazy that the FOX card isn’t a two-title card?

Chris Easton
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

SONNEN A MUST FOR SILVA’S FINAL FOUR FIGHTS

One week ago, Jordan Grenke said that Anderson Silva needs more differentiation in his final four fights. He said this because he, and “The Spider,” have a huge fear of Chael Sonnen. People cry steroids and “he had his chance and blew it,” but what they fail to remember is that Sonnen destroyed Silva, and now Sonnen has had a full year to develop his grappling. Silva wants to finish on top of the 185-pound ranks but knows he will fight at least two more times to Sonnen. And who else is left in the 185-pound division? Michael Bisping? “Mayhem” Miller? How about Tim Kennedy or Luke Rockhold? Sonnen is the only real challenger, whether Silva wants to fight him or not. But hey, maybe Silva will fight Travis Lutter, Patrick Cote (who was winning), Thales Leites, James Irvin, Demian Maia or Forrest Griffin again to end his great career in the UFC.

Scott Dunham II
Castleton, N.Y.

THE CASE FOR SUPPORTING CHAEL SONNEN

I am a Chael Sonnen fan. Recently, though, I have begun questioning why I support him when I see the comments he has made. It’s not his trash-talking or the way he presents himself as the people’s champ that is disturbing. I agree with him in that aspect. The comments about Anderson Silva’s family though have shaken my resolve a little. I have come to the conclusion that Sonnen is representing somewhat of a “Dark Knight” figure. I – like many other Sonnen fans – used to be a Silva fan until the Demian Maia debacle and since then have been waiting for someone to dethrone Silva for his transgressions. Sonnen has filled that role now, and I believe that is why we support him. Though after he completes his purpose, I believe our support will waver, and he will be resented until a new, more deserving, middleweight champ can be crowned.

Daniel Long
St. Marys, Ga.

COULD WORLD MMA AWARDS HOLD KEY TO BOOKING SILVA-SONNEN II?

“The Spider’s” web is going to get agitated. With the recent announcement that Chael Sonnen will be the host of the 2011 World MMA Awards, look for the top 185-pound contender to use this appearance to get on his proverbial soapbox and continue to lambast middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva. Sonnen will use this platform to call Silva a fraud, a fake and every other insult under the sun. Sonnen will go on to call “The Spider” a coward if he does not accept the challenge. Unfortunately for Silva, Ed Soares will not be able to do or say anything other then accept the grudge match. Fortunately for the fans, we are in for an entertaining night of future promos and one-liners as well as the beginning of the road to Silva-Sonnen II.

Clayton Fraser
Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada

SMALL FIGHTERS CAN STILL MEAN BIG BUSINESS

There is a sentiment in fight culture that the biggest, most dominant organization should have the biggest, most dominant fighter – the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. It’s old fashioned, but it still holds true. However, we seem to be losing perspective on the significance of the lighter weightclasses. For every Jack Dempsey, there is a Willie Pep – every Joe Louis a Julio Cesar Chavez. With meaningful bantamweight and featherweight fights being relegated to preliminary cards, it makes you wonder: Should the notion that “smaller fighters are less compelling” be catered to? Is that opinion being appeased? As the UFC integrates lighter weightclasses, the fans will decide if relevance is determined by weight, or if moxie comes in all sizes.

“Crantis”
Dallas, Texas

JOSE ALDO HAS NOTHING LEFT AT FEATHERWEIGHT

It’s time to see UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo move up to 155 pounds. After his win over Kenny Florian, he has nothing left to gain in the featherweight division. There are far better matchups to be had at lightweight. It’s no secret that there are no high-profile fights left for him featherweight. The lightweight division is the most stacked in the UFC and would offer a multitude of high-profile fights for Aldo. People would argue Aldo would be a small lightweight, but Frankie Edgar has proven that with the right skillset, a smaller fighter can be dominant in a division. Aldo has nothing to lose and everything to gain by making the jump to 155!

“Serenity4130″
California

IT’S TIME FOR DANA WHITE TO REALLY PAY BACK THE FANS

Another major UFC event has suffered a massive setback due to injury with Dana White’s “biggest draw” in Georges St. Pierre falling to injury. As a result, UFC 137 is left with a main event featuring a returning Nick Diaz against B.J. Penn – a very intriguing matchup, but an otherwise dull card. As a longtime UFC supporter, I will most likely purchase the event anyway, but I’m still left with a sour taste in my mouth. Over the past ten years, I have purchased upwards of 70 percent of the UFC’s pay-per-views and have watched the price of an event climb from $19.99 to upwards of $59.99. Why are the fans still being asked to pay top dollar for an event clearly lacking? Whether it be a discount after purchasing a few events or prices that reflect the quality of the event, it’s high time the UFC actually rewards its loyal fans.

“Joel”
Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

MISSED TAPOUTS THE LATEST EASY FIX IN MMA

As more and more fights happen, we’re going to see things that never happened before, as well as things that should constantly update the rulebook for MMA. One such occurrence that we saw earlier this week was the barely-there tap by Akira Corassani on “The Ultimate Fighter.” One could argue that Dustin Neace should have held the submission longer, but we’ve also seen a fighter penalized for holding that dangerous submission too long, blurring the lines for when the fighter applying the submission should release. So why should the in-cage referee be the only one to have an opinion on whether a fighter tapped or not? Some decisions in the moment just aren’t made correctly and allowing a little more time between rounds for another official to review the footage could have easily settled the matter. As MMA becomes more mainstream, little quick fixes like this should show that officiating is making progress, however slowly.

“dogbyday”
Fort Collins, Colo.

CRO COP’S EMOTIONS DEMONSTRATE THE DIFFICULTY OF MMA

MMA is the ultimate combat sport, pitting man against man in a competition where the athlete who trains harder and fights smarter emerges victorious. Whether fighters crave the competition or love being in the spotlight, we as fans are lucky enough to see some of them evolve into legends of the sport. Mirko “Cro Cop” delivered an emotional interview this week in which the seasoned vet of more than 80 fights exclaimed that if he loses against Roy Nelson, he will apologize to the UFC brass. “Cro Cop” has delivered to us many exciting fights during his storied career and owes us absolutely nothing. Clearly his desire to succeed comes from more than just money but also from his fans’ support. It can’t be easy walking away from this great sport, so let’s support the fighters who work tirelessly to entertain us fans and treasure the wars they’ve had in our memory.

Robert Brown
Oshawa, Ontario, Canada

UFC SHOULD RECONSIDER ITS HANDLING OF NICK DIAZ

Chael Sonnen may be MMA’s answer to Vince McMahon, but Nick Diaz has generated his own amount of publicity and hype by doing his best impression of Charlie Sheen. Entirely unpredictable in when he’ll show up next to work commitments while delivering stream-of-consciousness interviews when a reporter does have a chance to capture a quote or two (or a couple dozen), Diaz and Sheen have a lot in common. They both generate hype in a unique way, and they both know a thing or two about winning. Instead of trying to lasso Diaz to fit the mold, the UFC should be taking the same approach with Diaz as they are with Sonnen – monetize what they already have in front of them. I’m hopeful we’ll see Diaz work his way to a well-deserved title shot after a war with B.J. Penn so we can continue to see his “winning” ways.

Dan Nitta Mackay
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

POUND-FOR-POUND RANKINGS BEING HANDLED INCORRECTLY

Yahoo! Sports recently announced their latest MMA pound-for-pound rankings, and while it’s nice to put all of the UFC champions on there, the list in general doesn’t make much sense to me. Pound-for-pound rankings were designed primarily for boxing where there are something like 157 (exaggeration) different weight-classes. If you look back at a list of the best pound-for-pound boxers, they are the ones who jumped between weightclasses to prove they could beat whoever they faced, no matter what the weight. Yahoo!’s list is a compilation of who’s on top right now and not of the best fighters, pound-for-pound. People like Randy Couture, B.J. Penn, Dan Henderson, those are guys that should be considered top pound-for-pound fighters because they have proven that they can fight and beat top competition no matter the weight. Just because someone is the current champion of a division shouldn’t automatically qualify them as the best fighter, pound-for-pound.

Tim Earnest
Worcester, Mass.

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